CSM Nagar (Amethi): Drumming up support for the Congress in the face of UP Assembly elections, Sonia Gandhi’s son-in-law Robert Vadra on Monday expressed his willingness to join politics.

"I will enter politics if people want me to. Right now it's Rahul's time to be active," said Vadra while campaigning at Amethi in Uttar Pradesh.

“The family I married into is in politics. It's something I cannot run away from. When the time is right, I will give nod for joining politics but my focus is on my work right now," added Vadra.

Robert Vadra, a businessman by profession and husband of Priyanka Gandhi, said that Priyanka will make foray into politics at the right time. Presently, they will stand by the side of Rahul’s effort to bring development in UP.

Vadra and his daughter arrived here on Sunday night and he took part in the rally in Gauriganj area on Monday morning and later addressed the electorate in Salon assembly segments of Amethi, which is a Gandhi family pocket borough.

In an informal chat with newspersons, Vadra said that he is lending support as a family member to take forward Rahul's message, though both Rahul and Priyanka do not require any help as visible.

"I have come to share and take Rahul's message to every nook and corner of villages", he said.

To a question whether it was time for Rahul to become the prime minister, Vadra reserved his comments.

Priyanka who has been here since last week would be addressing about 20 meetings all over the constituency on Monday before she is expected to leave later in the day.

According to Congress sources, Rahul Gandhi is also scheduled to address three meetings consecutively on February 11 in Sultanpur, Gauriganj and Rae Bareli assembly constituencies, where polling is scheduled for February 15.

Vadra's bike rally in UP stopped, poll observer shifted

A controversy broke out on Monday over the transfer of a poll observer, an IAS officer, who allegedly ordered the stopping of a motorcycle rally of Congress campaigner and Priyanka Gandhi's husband Robert Vadra on the charge of violating the model code of conduct.

Chief Election Commissioner S Y Quraishi, however, maintained the transfer of Pawan Sen, IAS officer of 2005 batch, was not linked to the incident and his shift to Goa, which too goes to assembly poll, has been put on hold till February 19 when Amethi goes to polls in the third phase of polling in Uttar Pradesh.

Vadra was stopped by the authorities while heading towards Salon area of the district for using more vehicles against the permitted number of ten bikes, District Magistrate J P Gupta said.

Sen had also ordered filing of an FIR against the local Congress candidate in the assembly poll.

Quraishi said that "today's incident is unrelated to the observer’s transfer. It has nothing to do with it. The Election Commission had during its meeting this morning decided that Sen be posted as Deputy Commissioner in South Goa, after complaints from various political parties about the conduct of the present DC in South Goa who was earlier the state chief minister’s Principal Secretary".

"We had decided to seek a panel from the state government and among the panel was Sen’s name – the other two being Secretaries to the chief minister and Governor.

"The EC in its meeting finalized his (Sen's) name in the morning today. The incident in which Robert Vadra was involved happened in the evening and had nothing to do with Sen’s transfer. Even the recommendation of FIR done by him was against the Congress candidate and not Vadra," Quraishi said.